


Dave, Karkat, and the Baby

by ambiguousMagic



Series: Dave, Karkat, and Babies [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Humanstuck, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-03
Updated: 2012-09-15
Packaged: 2017-11-11 08:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/476416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguousMagic/pseuds/ambiguousMagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John and Vriska go on vacation, leaving their daughter Casey to Dave and Karkat.</p><p>that's all I have planned out. let's see how this goes!</p><p>humanstuck AU, they're much older (around 25?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> wow this is gonna be shit-tastic. read at your own risk, I wrote this at 2 a.m.

_john egbert’s rules regarding his little girl  
1\. no swearing!!!!!!!! casey is at a young age and she hasn’t started talking yet but that doesn’t mean she won’t repeat it in the future  
2\. just because casey is sleeping doesn’t mean you’re alone  
3\. stick to her schedule  
4\. no your schedule isn’t more important than her’s  
5\. she’s allergic to peanuts just like i am so ABSOLUTELY NONE!_  
  
 _take care of her. schedule is on the back_  
  
You really hated John Egbert. You also hated his wife. You couldn’t say you hated his daughter, even you had to admit she was cute, but that wasn’t the point.  
  
John and his wife were on vacation. “Mommy-and-Daddy-Only-Vacation-Time.” You think they just want to be able to fuck each other senseless without having the little tyke around to be “scarred for life.”  
  
So, currently, you and your partner were saddled with John’s “precious little girl,” Casey Egbert, reluctantly on both sides. You didn’t want to have to take care of some little shit for two weeks and neither did Dave. John didn’t exactly trust either of you with the first or second rules.  
  
Or any of the rules for that matter.  
  
But, you had to admit that it was somewhat cute. Dave was currently holding Casey and the rules list, reading silently while the baby blew slime bubbles all over his shirt.  
  
That was your favorite shirt of his to wear.  
  
God damn baby.  
  
You let out a small huff, which made Dave smile a bit, and went to sit down next to him on the couch.  
  
“What’s wrong, Karkles? Already having separation anxiety?”  
  
“Oh fu-” He put down the list and put his hand over your mouth, raising one eyebrow above those obnoxious shades of his. “Screw you, Strider.”  
  
“That’s not much of an improvement, babe, but I’ll let it slide.”  
  
“Why did you say yes to watch the thing, anyway?”  
  
“Because Rose and Kanaya are out as well, Jade is in Europe, and there was no way in hell John was asking TZ for help. And just look at her precious face, Karkat! Would you seriously be able to say no to this face?”  
  
He then proceeds to hold up the baby. In your face.  
  
Casey spits on you and giggles.  
  
“I hate you so much.” You get off the couch and go to the bathroom to thoroughly sterilize yourself. You guess that means taking a shower because that’s what you end up doing.  
  
You can hear Dave in the living room playing with the kid, watching children’s cartoons that you use to watch when you were young. You hear him laugh on a few occasions and feel jealous automatically. Why does she make him laugh so easily?  
  
It’s not like you two hadn’t considered adopting a kid in the past few years. You’d solidified your relationship two years ago. He gave you a ring and told you that he didn’t care if you made it official with the law and he was just glad to have you all to himself. You may have started crying. You may have lost your virginity that night. He might have lost his, too.  
  
You turn off the water and sigh, gingerly stepping out of the shower. You grab a towel and towel yourself off before looking into the mirror.  
  
Your skin is pretty dark for this time of year, but that’s been normal for you since you were little. It’s not that you’re naturally dark-skinned. You have a condition called hemochromatosis. Somewhere along the line in your family it became a gene that was eventually passed down to you. You have too much iron in your body at certain points in time, you have a certain diet and other needs, but otherwise you don’t really notice it. For the moment.  
  
It does take a downer on physical activity. You can’t do much work without getting tired out. But, as long as you stick to treatments and your diets you are pretty good.  
  
You don’t like telling people about it, though. You dislike the way they look at you after they learn of it.  
  
Your hair is light brown and your eyes are as well. You hair is permanently a bird’s nest.  
  
You dress quickly after that and walk out of the bathroom. Dave looks up at you from where he’s relocated to the floor. He’s took to setting out the various toys that John packed up and sent with Casey. He smiles and you frown.  
  
“You look good in my PJs, babe.” You just now take the time to look down at the clothes you’d grabbed from the drawers in your bedroom, and see that you did, in fact, grab a pair of his pajamas. They’re red with little music notes dotting the pants. How gay.  
“Well, all mine are on the floor of our room and are probably dirty.” He smirks at you.  
  
Then Casey lets out her first little whine.   
  
Dave looks down at her. She’s taken one of her stuffed animals (a bunny. who would’ve guessed?) and is now beating the ground with it. Dave picks her up and shushes her, cooing almost lovingly and rocking her. She brightens up instantly and looks at you.  
  
You swear she’s trying to get on your bad side.  
  
You spend the next hours in the living room with Dave and Casey. You blindly watch the kid’s shows and movies. Dave gets up to make Casey a bottle and put her to bed in the playpen that John brought with him and when she’s finally sleeping, he puts in a movie for the two of you and moves back to the couch with you. He gives you a small smile. It doesn’t work on you. You turn away and pretend to be interested in the movie.  
  
“Come on, Karkat. Babies require constant care...”  
  
You huff. “Well, she should learn how to take care of herself, then.”

  
Dave sighs and takes you into his arms, whispering into your ear. “It doesn’t work that way, babe. You know I have a soft spot for little kids...” You do know that. He made that clear in your discussions about adopting. “It’s just for two weeks. Do you mind sharing me that long?”  
  
You nod, and he laughs quietly and kisses you. You give in after a while. Soon enough your movie ends, and you move to your bedroom. He kisses you for a while. You don’t even go very far, just little kisses that last a long while. You fall asleep in each other’s arms.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let this chapter be titled "Percy gets carried away with the italics"

Casey starts screaming her head off around five in the morning. You’re groggy, your neck hurts from resting it on Dave’s chest and slowly moving so it was in the exact wrong angle it should be for sleeping. You’re going to get a headache later from being woken up so early with such a loud noise. And then Dave starts getting up and you fucking flounder around like an idiot, resulting in your head colliding with the bed. It wouldn’t hurt so much if your neck wasn’t already in pain.  
  
You currently hate everything and all things. Especially Dave.  
  
Okay, maybe not really but dammit you’re mad.  
  
You watch as Dave makes his way out the bedroom door and down the hall to the living room. Casey is making so much noise and you think she might’ve thrown her bottle because you hear a thump against the wall.  
How the fuck is she that strong she’s only a baby.  
  
You continue to lay on the bed until you hear Casey stop her crying all together. It happens pretty damn fast and you’re surprised.  
  
You get up and look to see what’s going on, and while in the hallway you hear something that you’ve only heard about three times before.  
  
Dave is singing.  
  
This makes you mad. Like, really really mad. Dave only sings on really special occasions, and now there’s some dumbass baby hearing him sing like it’s an everyday thing.  
  
Dave’s singing voice is  _gorgeous_. You love it so much when he sings because it’s so rare and beautiful, like seeing a distant planet with your naked eyes. He sang the night he gave you that ring. He sang to you on the night when you first had the adoption talk and you got in a huge argument that ended up with you trying to stay in a motel and him sitting outside the door to your room and singing just loud enough for you to hear through it. And this year he sang on your birthday...  
  
You stop yourself in the hallway and march straight back to your room. You slam the door, not caring if he and Casey hear or not. They’re having enough fun out there without you. You turn around and lock it immediately and bury yourself in the blankets on the bed. But they smell like him so you end up sitting in the corner with your knees curled up into your chest and your head in between them. You won’t admit ever that you started crying.  
  
Somehow, you end up falling asleep again and wake up to Dave knocking on the door softly.  
  
“Karkat? Hey, Karkat... Babe... why did you lock the door?”  
  
You huff and turn away from the door. You’re still laying on the floor.  
  
“Casey is back asleep... Karkat, it’s seven in the morning and I’m tired. I want to get my sleep on.”  
  
“You can sleep on the fucking couch. You’ll be closer to that ‘precious little baby’ you seem to adore so much.” You close your eyes.  
  
You can hear Dave sigh. Good. “Look, I don’t know why you’re so pissed, but I’m not going to sleep on the couch. It hurts, and I’ll end up rolling off like a fucking steamroller and make the loudest crash there ever was and wake Casey up again.”  
  
“Oh, good. Then you can cuddle and play with her and serenade her again. You seem to like that  _very much_.”  
  
Dave pauses. “It’s because I sang her to sleep?” he asks, and then he laughs. You have no fucking clue why he’s laughing and, that pisses you off even more.  
  
“You just shut the ever-loving fuck  up , Strider, and  _go the hell away_!”  
  
By this point you’re almost screaming at him, and it effectively shuts him up.  
  
You think he leaves, because it’s pretty damn silent behind that door, and you fall asleep again.  
  
You don’t wake up until around noon. You hear little noises of Casey giggling somewhere in the house and groan. You don’t want to get out of the room--Dave’s out there--but you really have to piss. You learned the hard way that you don’t have a good bladder.  
  
You stand up and walk to the door. You slowly unlock it and turn the handle. You then peek outside, and seeing no sign of Dave, make a mad dash for the bathroom. You close the door quickly and lock it. You go about your business quickly, and when you’re done you take a quick peek in the mirror. Your hair is more of a mess than normal and your eyes look pretty damn tired.  
  
This is already taking a lot out of you.  
  
You sigh, and that’s when you realize that you’re hungry, too. Fuck everything.  
  
You’ve learned that when you get hungry, eating is better than passing out. You pass out very quickly.  
  
You decide that taking a quick trip to the kitchen is better than locking yourself up again and passing out without Dave being able to reach you.  
  
You unlock the door to the bathroom and step out quietly. Your walk to the kitchen is silent and your head is down the whole time.  
  
You can feel Dave’s eyes on you, and you can hear  _Kiki’s Delivery Service_ playing on the TV. You just continue walking silently to the refrigerator. You quickly open it and grab an apple out of the bottom shelf and hurry back to your room.  
  
You lock the door and chew quietly on the apple, taking only small bites at a time. It’s not like you need to. You just don’t feel like devouring it right now.  
  
About an hour later, you’re laying face-down on the bed. That’s when Dave knocks again, even though you didn’t lock the door this time.  
  
“Karkat?”  
  
You don’t make a sound, keeping your face in the pillow.  
  
“Karkat, I’m coming in,” he says quietly and opens the door. You hear him moving towards you, slowly, like he’s afraid you’ll lash out. You feel his hand on your back. “What did I do?” he whispers.  
  
You turn your head and throw the apple core at him. He makes a face.  
  
“You sang to her. Some stupid little baby. You didn’t even question it... You sang to her like you sing all the time...”  
  
His face softens at your answer, and he sits on the edge of the bed. “That’s the whole reason?”  
  
“You don’t sing to me all the time like that. What if I want you to sing for me?” You sit up a bit, but he gently pushes you back down and lays next to you.  
  
“You want me to sing?” You nod. He does.  
  
It’s a fucking Disney song, you forget which one, but it’s so corny and beautiful that you just bury your head in his chest and stay there for a while. He finishes the song and holds you closer.  
  
“You still love me, right?”  
  
“Of course I do, you fucking idiot.”  
  
“Your idiot.”  
  
“Shut up.”  
  
Maybe you’ll try getting used to Casey, then. If she’s making Dave sing more, maybe.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my gosh sorry this took such a long time!!!!!
> 
> I had a busy week and I just caught the writing bug again. ;; I promise I won't take such a long time or write such a crappy chapter next time

You tried getting used to Casey. You really tried... and it didn’t happen.  
  
Egbert was due back home in a week now. His daughter still drove you up the wall.  
  
Today, Dave wouldn’t be home. He had to visit his sister and help contain their mother enough so they could clear her house of alcohol. You didn’t think that would help her drinking problem, but they had to try.  
  
You had bid Dave goodbye when he left that morning. (Truthfully, you begged him to stay with a rather surprising array of tempting promises. It didn’t work.) You are currently sitting in front of Casey and she is staring at you.  
  
You have absolutely no idea what to do.  
  
Dave said she likes movies. He also said she likes bunnies.  
  
You don’t think you have any movies about bunnies. You end up putting in some kid’s movie Egbert had sent with the kid, and you sit her in her playpen and hope for the best.  
  
It doesn’t last long, to say the least. She starts whining, trying to stand up in her playpen, and then just crawling to the side and looking at you through it. She continues the whining the whole time until you decided that maybe she was hungry?  
  
Karkat Vantas does not know how to take care of children. It should be written in the stars. This is why, you’re deciding, that you and Dave haven’t tried adopting yet.  
  
You get up with a small sigh and head to the kitchen. You grab a bottle out of the refrigerator and bring it to her. She smiles (it’s totally not  _really fucking adorable_ ) and takes it from you, plopping into a sitting position and bringing the bottle to her lips.  
  
You have no experience with babies or children. Or anyone younger than you by more than a few years. You tend to stay within your age group. Dave used to babysit for spare cash, so he had a few years of experience. He used to tell you stories about the kids he used to sit and how he loved working with the families that he worked for. You were honestly surprised to see that he was such a sap with small children.  
  
He also happened to have grown up with a sister, and you had no siblings to report. He and his sister were a year apart, she being the older sister.  
  
Dave had experience on both ends, being watched and watching. You had no experience on either end.  
  
You start to think that letting Dave leave you alone with Casey was a very bad idea when Casey starts crying and you hear the phone ringing at the same time.  
  
You pick Casey up quickly and she hits at your shoulder ( _how does she know how to hit and throw things already Egbert what have you been teaching her_ ). She calms down a bit though, so you pick up the phone.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
“Karkat!” you hear John’s voice cheer from the other end of the phone. “Wow, it’s nice to hear from you instead of Dave. I thought you were missing! If it weren’t for Dave telling me that you were moping in corners I would’ve assumed you flew the coop as soon as I left town.”  
  
“Shut up, jerkface,” is all you can manage with Casey around. You really hate not being able to swear. “I’ve been here, and I’ve helped watch your kid. Calm down.”  
  
“Oh, Casey! Is she alright? Is she missing her daddy yet?”  
  
You huff into the phone. He can be such a dork at times, but he’s mostly the rudest little fucker to you. “She’s absolutely fine.” And then Casey lets out a loud whine and you sigh. “Just being really frigging emotional.”  
  
“Put the phone to her ear so I can talk to her!” You almost drop the phone and facepalm. You wouldn’t drop the baby, John and Vriska would take turns bitching you out for all eternity.  
  
But, despite how stupid the request is, you put the phone to her ear. She whines and tries to bat it away; you can hear John’s muffled blubbering. Casey pushes the phone away and you put it back to your ear.  
  
“See? She’s fine. Just being a whiny brat.”  
  
“Don’t say that! She’s probably just tired.”  
  
“She was just in her playpen. Why didn’t she just go to sleep in there?”  
  
You can hear him sigh. “That’s not how babies work. They need to be lulled to sleep. She likes having warm milk. Didn’t Dave tell you that?”  
  
You scowl. “No, he did not, nor did I notice it. Because that idiot sings her to sleep all the dang time.” You feel really lame.  
  
John gives a little surprised chuckle. “Well, try that! And you can also try--” A pause. “Gotta go, Karkat. Make sure Casey stays okay!” and then the line goes dead. You’re so tempted to call him back up and demand he finish that statement because you are at a loss here.  
  
You can’t sing for shit so you walk to the kitchen with Casey in one arm. You take a bottle from the fridge, unscrew the cap, and put it in the microwave. Once it’s done, you carry Casey back to the living room, place her into the playpen, and give her the bottle. She starts crying almost immediately.  
  
You’re getting really frustrated with this. The next half hour includes you trying everything you know to calm Casey down, and none work. Finally you give up. You’re so tired yourself and you’ve watched through too many shitty movies and spent way too much time on this. You pick Casey up and trudge to your own bedroom. You lay her down on Dave’s side of the bed and lay down on your side. She stays on her back and drinks from her bottle, seeming to have calmed down now. She turns her head and stares at you for a while.  
  
“That was it, huh? You just wanted a real bed?”  
  
She continues staring at you.  
  
“You’re a frigging jerk face.”  
  
She takes the bottle out of her mouth and smiles at you like she knows exactly what you’re saying. What a little bitch.  
  
“Get some sleep, or I’ll make you,” you tell her and close your eyes.  
  
Casey kicks around a bit and finishes half of her bottle before going to sleep.  
  
Dave finds you like this around 6 p.m. and smiles to himself. You are both still sleeping, so he slips into the hall silently and calls John.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to Rue's Lullaby the entire time while writing this chapter and I only cried for 20 minutes

You wake up around nine p.m. to Casey batting at your nose. She still seems calm and you frown at her.   
  
“What do you want, brat?”   
  
She’s holding an empty bottle in her hands and is looking at you with this face. A face that says “my bottle is all gone, because I’m greedy, and now I need to be more greedy so fill it for me before I scream and blow out your eardrums.”   
  
It’s totally not an adorable face. Shut your goddamn mouth.   
  
You sit up and rub the sleep out of your eyes. Then, you pick Casey and her bottle up. You walk out of your room and to the kitchen.   
  
Dave’s watching TV in the living room, and you frown at his actions.   
  
“You couldn’t have gotten her another freaking bottle?” you spit at him. He looks at you, shrugs, and continues watching TV. He’s got his lamps on and the brightness down on the TV. You briefly consider turning the main lights on just to bug him.   
  
That would be really cruel. He’s got some eye disease that you don’t even know the name of, but that’s the cause for the sunglasses. He’s got them off right now, though.   
  
You walk into the kitchen and open the fridge. There’s orange juice, apple juice, and assorted leftovers. No milk.   
  
“Dave!” you yell. “We have no milk for the brat.” Casey swats at your face. You don’t want to know if she knew what you were saying or if she didn’t like your yelling.   
  
“Rose and Kanaya are back, and they’re coming in to check on us, remember? Just call them to get milk.” You can hear that he’s pretty tired in his voice. You kind of hate yourself for yelling now. And napping.   
  
You walk into the living room and put Casey in her playpen with a few toys. She sits on her butt and starts gnawing on a stuffed bunny’s ear. You hate your emotions. That shit is not cute okay.   
  
It’s another half an hour and Dave’s almost asleep on your shoulder and the doorbell buzzes.   
  
“Effin’ sister with her perfect timin’...” Dave grumbles and sits up. You push him back down and sigh.   
  
“I’ll get it.”   
  
You get up and Casey watches you walk out of the room. She whines when you get to the doorway, though, and you freeze. Scowling, you walk over to her and pick her out of the playpen. She’s still carrying that bunny that she chewed on. Fucking gross.   
  
You finally make it to the door and open it. Rose’s albino form looks small and pale against Kanaya’s taller, more muscular, dark self. They stick out, and they like it that way.   
  
Kanaya is carrying a plastic grocery bag. Hell yes.   
  
Rose smiles at you in her almost-sweet-but-still-menacing way. “Karkat, I didn’t expect you to be so helpful with the child.”   
  
“Well, I didn’t expect so either.” She motions toward Casey. You give her up immediately. Casey smiles at her and bops her on the nose with the bunny.   
  
Kanaya pulls you into a hug, and you can’t help but hug back. Kanaya is one of your best friends and has been for a long while. When you get tired of everything you go to the all-night coffee shop with her and talk like you used to in high school.   
  
“Hello, Karkat. Have you been holding up well under the pressure of an infant having run of the house?”   
  
“Not particularly. She’s got Dave singing.” Kanaya gives a little gasp for your sake. “She’s not so bad, I guess. Just annoying as all heck.”   
  
“I take it you’re not allowed to use your preferred language while there are young ears to listen, are you?”   
  
“Nope. John would skin me alive and sew me back together just to do it again if I did.”   
  
“Gruesome.” You nod and she lets you go and proceeds to go into the living room. “David, I hear you’ve been singing ballads for your young, temporary child. You do know that makes Karkat extremely jealous, do you not?”   
  
You scowl at her and she smirks at you in return.   
  
“Yeah, I know that already. We had a fucking cuddle party didn’t we, Karkles? Best cuddle party on this side of the big, green earth.”   
  
“Shut up you stupid face.” The adults in the room laugh at your poor attempt at an insult that wouldn’t make John kill you.   
  
You huff and take the bag from Kanaya and go into the kitchen to make Casey a bottle. “The Thing needs to sleep,” you call out. You hear Rose laugh.   
  
Once the bottle is done you carry it back out and hand it to Kanaya. “You’re the best at singing that is currently here. You put her to sleep.” Kanaya quirks an eyebrow but takes the bottle anyway. she then takes Casey into her own arms.   
  
Casey looks up at her curiously and takes the bottle when it’s handed to her.   
  
Kanaya then begins singing, and it’s as if the angels have descended from the heavens and are blessing your ears.   
  
Dave is a great singer, but Kanaya is the best you’ve ever heard. She’s singing that one lullaby from the Hunger Games. You feel like crying.   
  
You walk over to Dave and sit in his lap. He moves his arms around you as you curl up and lay your head on his chest.   
  
Casey is slowly falling asleep. The bottle slips from her mouth and she rests it on her little torso. Soon enough her eyes are closed; her breathing slows. Kanaya stops singing and puts her in her playpen.   
She holds up a few movies from around the TV. You all point to one and she puts it in before going to sit next to Rose. Those two curl up together, and soon enough everyone is silent and tired and just cuddling.


	5. Chapter 5

Rose and Kanaya end up staying the entire day the next day. You decide to take Casey to the park.  
  
Rose makes lunch (sandwiches and cookies and extra bottles for Casey). She gives a hand-made sweater and scarf combo to Casey (you ended up getting it from her car and putting them on Casey yourself.)  
  
Kanaya keeps Casey occupied with songs and toys. She draws for her on little pieces paper and lets Casey hold the pencil until it ends up in her mouth.  
  
Dave and you slip off to your bedroom to change.  
  
‘Change.’  
  
Imagine the intense amount of air quotes around that word.  
  
You actually did intend on changing, though, so you got your shirt off and were working on your pants before Dave practically tackled you.  
  
The kisses are deep and way too fast and sometimes you feel teeth on your lips and he’s going to drive you insane and his sister and your best friend and your other best friend’s daughter are in the other room Dave Dave Dave Dave stop it now okay Dave Dave _Dave_  
  
He responds to you pushing him back with a pout.  
  
“We haven’t done anything in a week,” he whines.  
  
“You’ll have to wait until at least Rose and Kanaya are out of the house. Have some fucking patience.”  
  
“But I want you, Karkat...” He’s still whining, but the whine has toned down, and is being replaced by a low and husky tone. He backs you up into the dresser (thankfully you’re not being stabbed by the handles) “Everyone loves a bit of exhibitionism, right?”  
  
This totally isn’t getting to you. Stay strong, Vantas. “No. Now back off me before I take off my pants and strangle you with them.”  
  
“Kinky,” he murmurs, but backs off and starts undressing himself. You roll your eyes and finish undressing. You end up putting on a plain sweater and a pair of normal jeans. Dave puts on a long-sleeved t-shirt and his favorite pair of skinny jeans that aren’t even so skinny anymore because he wears them so often.  
  
You exit your room together. Rose gives you a look and finishes helping Kanaya strap Casey into a small stroller.  
  
Wait, where did that come from?  
  
Kanaya sees your confusion and smiles. “We assumed that we would all take a stroll in the park before we even set a foot out the door of our home. We also happened to have a spare stroller from our adventures with the child.”  
  
You nod before walking to the front door. “Hurry it up! The sooner we leave, the sooner I get back, and the sooner I can take a nap.”  
  
Dave appears in front of you and captures your lips in a kiss that lasts a bit too long to be casual before poking you in the side and running out the door. You scowl and run after him, jumping onto his back.  
  
“You’re carrying me the whole way to the park. You have no choice.”  
  
“If I’m carrying you, you have to let me do _something_  with you later.”  
  
You sigh. “Fine. Nothing too big.”  
  
“Baby, my dick is too big to not break that rule.”  
  
You hit him on the top of his head. He laughs, and you start moving with Kanaya and Rose following close behind.  
  
The park itself isn’t really a kid’s park. It’s an open area with trees and a small pond and places to barbecue and stuff. You set up camp at an empty picnic table.  
  
Rose distributes the sandwiches accordingly. Dave gets apple butter and normal butter, Rose gets tomato, and you and Kanaya both have cheese. Casey is handed her bottle.  
  
You all sit at the table with Casey at the end by Kanaya and you. You all talk about little things--how Rose and Dave’s mom is doing, how Kanaya’s mother and your father are, and the usual gossip about your other friends’ lives.  
  
Once the sandwiches are done, Dave is appointed to throw them away. Ros takes out the cookies. Dave eats most of them.  
  
You’re chewing on your last cookie when Casey starts getting restless. Dave gets up and takes her out of the stroller, coming back to sit back down with her in his lap. He gives her a few toys, and they all take turns playing with her.  
  
Your cookie is long finished by the time you see Casey getting restless again. She lets out a high-pitched whine and reaches for you, looking like she’s about to cry.  
  
You stare at her.  
  
“Karkat, take her. She wants you.”  
  
You frown and hold out your arms, to which Casey is quickly transferred. You lift her up to rest on your chest. She puts her head on your shoulder immediately and closes her eyes. She falls asleep in a matter of minutes.  
  
You pet her head gently, if not a bit awkwardly,  and look up to see Rose, Kanaya, and Dave are all smiling at you. You glare. “If any of you make any noises and wake her up I will kill you,” you whisper. They just nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plot twist: the notes are at the end of the chapter
> 
> anyway, sorry for such a crappy and short chapter!!!! gosh I started school and then inspiration went down the toilet............
> 
> also, the next chapter shall be the last for this particular story. :c
> 
> but wait, there's more!
> 
> if you guys want, I'm more than willing to write a follow-up story in which Dave and Karkat finally obtain a baby of their own
> 
> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> you just need to make your opinion on that known, in any way you choose. c:


	6. Chapter 6

Your arms fall asleep shortly after Casey does. Your fingers had started tingling, and then your hands, and then suddenly your entire arm is numb and you have that weird feeling of touching but not touching something. It also hurts quite a bit because you happen to be holding a baby.  
  
“Hey, a little help here?” you ask, shifting your arms and wincing. “My arms are asleep, and she isn’t exactly as light as a feather.”  
  
Dave laughs softly at your distress but takes Casey from you anyway, resting her on his shoulder without waking her at all. You shake your arms frantically to try and get circulation working in them again. You end up hitting your hand against the table several times, ending in bitten lips to hold back the swearing. Dave laughs at you again. You look up and see Rose staring at you.  
  
“You two would really make great parents, you know,” she says, so matter-of-factly. You freeze immediately on the word ‘parents.’ You see Dave shift forward in your peripheral vision.  
  
“Really, Rose?” he asks. You can detect just how excited he is. If he wasn’t so persistent on keeping up his ‘cool’ look he would be blushing. You look over to him without turning your head. You can see a small smile on his lips.  
  
If you weren’t flipping the fuck out right now, you would think that it was cute.  
  
Kanaya stands up and motions for you to follow her. Then, she walks towards a secluded area of the park. You get up. Dave catches your arm and gives you a look; you just pull away and follow Kanaya.  
  
You find her again standing by a tree that is pretty far away from the picnic table.  
  
“I see you’re having quite a few doubts about having a child of your own, Karkat.”  
  
“Isn’t it pretty fucking obvious? I looked like the biggest goddamn douchebag ever back there. Dave’s probably sitting there on his little ass blaming himself, deep down inside that tiny-ass brain of his--”  
  
“Karkat, I understand this is your first time that you are allowed to swear since you started caring for John’s child, but please tone it down.”  
  
“Sorry. I just... I don’t think I can take care of a baby, Kanaya. They’re loud, annoying, smelly, whiny, and you have to be there for them. I’m not good at being there.”  
  
“I think you described Dave there, as well as a child,” she says, smirking a bit. “You already take care of Dave, even when he is sickly or at his worst moods. You will have Dave to help you.”  
  
“And what if we decide one day that having a kid isn’t exactly what we hoped it would be? What happens then? Does the kid get abandoned by it’s two gay parents because having children isn’t exactly the best fucking thing in the world?” Your fists are balled up now. You glare at the ground. “What if we can’t even get through? What’s the odds of two gay guys who aren’t legally bonded, only have a shitty apartment in the city, and have diseases that prevent them from doing certain things adopting a kid?” You grind your teeth together. Your lack of energy due to your hemochromatosis and Dave’s lack of eyesight in bright light would inhibit you from doing family-type things, like go to amusement parks together or play on playgrounds. That was almost at the bottom of your list of “why Dave and I can’t have a kid,” but it was still a persistent problem.  
  
Kanaya has taken a place in front of you while you were thinking. It makes you jump. She pulls you into her arms, then, and pets your hair. “Karkat, you cannot honestly think that will affect anything. You and Dave both have your faults, but you are truly wonderful people with good parental skills. It may take awhile to be able to actually adopt. I know you both too well to believe you will give up just for that.”  
  
You hug her back. “I’m scared of being a parent, I guess.”  
  
“I know, Karkat. I know.”  
  
You two stand there for a while, Kanaya reassuring you about being a parent off and on.  
  
When you finally make it back to the table, Casey is awake and strapped in her stroller again. Lunch is all packed up. The first thing Dave does is kiss you, lightly and sweetly. “Sorry,” he murmurs.  
  
“It was nothing, dumbass,” you whisper to him. He gives you a smile and you offer a small one back.  
  
He kisses you one more time, before picking up the food basket from the table and heading in the general direction of home. “Karkat would like to take a nap, I think,’’ he yells behind him.  
  
Sometimes, you think, there is a reason you are dating that boy.  
  
When you reach home, Dave immediately orders you to bed, shushing each protest with a kiss. Finally, you comply, being actually a little tired. You flop down on the bed, burying your face in Dave’s pillow.  
  
You don’t remember dozing off, but you do faintly remember Rose and Kanaya coming in to say their goodbyes. Kanaya kisses your forehead and Rose pats your shoulder. You doze off once again.  
  
You wake up with Dave laying at your side. You look at the alarm clock next to the bed and see you’ve slept until 9 p.m.  
  
“Fuck,” you hiss, rubbing your eyes. Dave’s hands catch your’s and brings your hands down.  
  
“Calm down, Karkles. I didn’t mind at all.” You frown at him, but he kisses you, and you decide that you don’t care anymore. “I heard Kanaya talked to you.” You nod. “Are you sure of your stance on the subject now?” You nod again. “Well, then tell me.”  
  
You sigh. Of course he’s going to make you talk. “We... We can get a kid, if you want...” you mumble. “I don’t want to hear any whining out of you now, or I’ll take that back.”  
  
Dave looks at you, a bit surprised. “Oh, uh... wow. Seriously?” You nod again. He kisses you, deeply. It doesn’t last as long as you want it to, but when Dave pulls back he’s got the biggest smile on his face and suddenly everything is worth it.  
  
His smile makes you smile. Then you’re both laughing and Dave is hugging you close. He takes your left hand and kisses it, right on top of the ring he gave you.  
  
“When do we want to start this process?” he asks, turning slightly serious now.  
  
You shrug. “Whenever you want. I honestly don’t care as long as you’re happy.” Dave gives you an eskimo kiss.  
  
He gets up and pulls you up with him. You start to question him, but he shushes you and leads you out to the living room. He disappears into the kitchen momentarily and returns with a glass of milk and a glass of apple juice. He gives you the milk and puts the apple juice on the coffee table. He then picks out a movie and puts it in, and then moves back to the couch to cuddle by your side.  
  
You fall asleep there.  
  
\---  
  
The rest of the week contains four baby care manuals, three trips to Walmart, online research, and one homecoming visit with good news.  
  
John and Vriska get home on Friday and arrive on your doorstep around 4 p.m.. Dave answers the door.  
  
John gives Dave a hug and ruffles his hair before stepping into the house and immediately looking for Casey, who is situated in your arms. She is examining your finger closely, holding it in her tiny hands. Sometimes she puts it in her mouth.  
  
“Karkat!” John greets you in the normal way. You look up and Casey looks up too. She lights up immediately and reaches for John.  
  
You nod to John and hand his kid over, and he showers her in kisses. Vriska follows into the room afterwards, giving you a short wave. You wave back.  
  
“How did the weeks go?” John asks.  
  
“Just fine. Karkat learned how to be nice,” Dave answers from the doorway. You frown at him and turn back to John.  
  
“We’re going to adopt a baby.” John pauses what he’s doing and Vriska stares at you for a moment before laughing.  
  
“You and Strider adopt a baby? That’s blasphemous!” You shoot her a look.  
  
“It’s true, Vris. We’re gonna get a little bundle of joy just like you two have. We’ll have cutest baby competitions and our’s will win by default.”  
  
John smiles a bit. “Well, good for you two! I’m proud of you. You can ask us if you need any help.”  
  
You nod. “I’ll keep that in mind.”  
  
Small talk is exchanged before you help them pack Casey’s things and see them off.  
  
You and Dave end up watching movies on the couch again. You have two cups of yogurt, and Dave has two granola bars.  
  
“You’re completely sure about this, Karkat?” he asks you.  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure, jackass.”  
  
And then you kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gosh wow I finished this fast because
> 
> I have bad news
> 
> my computer is kind of broken :c I need to get it fixed sometime soon and all my writing resources are on here so the next story might not be out for a while
> 
> I made an effort to get this up though because you guys are so amazing for reading and liking this!!!!!!!!!!!! gosh wow thank you all so much
> 
> ilu guys
> 
> \- Percy


End file.
